Award (?) name help

[pchadbo]

While cleaning out out storage locker at the meeting place, an older, green Scout uniform was found in good condition with the First Class Rank Badge sewn on.  The Quartermaster and SPL thought that my son would enjoy that as he is a very active (albeit slow advancing) Scout who just achieved First Class.

 

The boys were talking about this shirt becoming a tradition in the troop, handed from one FC to another based on Scout spirit and their embracing the "old ways" camping, hiking, helping, and being all around "FC" (ideal not rank) Scouts.

 

They asked me for input on the name for this "award". 

Ideas?

 

 

[qwazse]

Well, if they think taking advice from strangers on the internet is a good idea, they can borrow my tag line and call it "the concept, not the badge" award!

 

Oh, here's one more "fitting": The Brotherhood of the Traveling Shirt!

Edited March 10, 2017 by qwazse

[KenD500]

The Truly First Class shirt.  Maybe TFC shirt for short.

[Ankylus]

 I think @@qwazse got it in the first reply...it's the traveling shirt...it not only travels from scout to scout, it travels through time and back in time as the the scout(s) travel through the scouting program...and the winners are the Brotherhood of the Traveling Shirt. Make a plaque, hang it on the wall and add names.

[Stosh]

Awwwww, there's always one in the crowd that throws the monkey wrench into the gears.

 

There's nothing wrong with a scout wearing a historical uniform, but if they do they need to have the proper rank on it.  For example, a Second Class (earned rank) scout cannot put a First Class rank patch on any uniform, modern or historical.  I would go with some other sort of designation to indicate the "heart" of the scout. 

 

I used a lanyard system when I was working as an ASM in charge of Scout Spirit/Leadership Development.  I went to the craft shop and bought 5 different colors of plastic lanyard and cut them into 8" strips.  Whenever I saw the boys doing something along the lines of recognizable SS or Leadership, I would loop the piece of lanyard through the button hole on the temporary patch pocket.  The colors were ranked:

 

1) Gold

2) Silver

3) Blue

4) Red

5) White

 

For all the hard-nosed SM's out there they will be happy to note that these colors could go both up AND DOWN.  A boy at Gold could find himself loosing the lanyard and have to start all over again if the infraction was bad enough.  However, I made sure the colors went up as often as possible.  I held out a bit on the Gold, but some of my hot-shot TF's would skyrocket to the Gold and stay there for some time.  They turned out over time to be the better scouts. 

 

The incentive was to show show Scout Spirit and Leadership especially when it was "not expected of them!"  It was also a way of expressing disappointment in a scout that screwed up big time without having to do a haranguing lecture where the adult spends too much time telling the boy he screwed up and he knows it already.

 

The perks of the lanyards?  "10:00 pm, boys, head to bed.  Blue or higher can stay at the campfire for an extra half hour if they wish."  or SM offers to help the Silver Scout clean Dutch ovens and does a friendly chat of encouragement/appreciation with him to make the job easier.

 

I found it a quick way to change the culture and focus of the unit.

 

No rules, nothing written down, just a way of letting the boys know they are doing (or not doing) a good job of Scouting.  The only one besides the SM/ASM that could change the colors were the PL's. 

 

As far as being fair?  PL docks the boy because he was goofing off Friday night not helping set up camp with the new boys.  He complains to the SM, SM then asks him what he's going to do to get the color back before the end of the weekend.  In most cases, they always did.  No blaming, no punishments, just opportunities to learn to put Scout Spirit and Leadership into practice.

[CalicoPenn]

Stosh,

 

I think he meant that the shirt would be passed on from one First Class Scout to the next deserving First Class Scout.

 

pchadbo:   Though the Brotherhood of the Traveling Shirt has merit, I would suggest that you use a name that gives title not to the shirt but to the person wearing the shirt so that when people ask, as they might when they notice one scout wearing a completely different shirt than the other Scouts, you can simply say "That's our current Distinguished Scout" or something along those lines (Illustrious Scout?  First-Rate Scout? Master Scout? (ooohh - Master Scout - you have a Scoutmaster, why not a Master Scout - maybe every Troop should have a Master Scout).

 

edited to add:

 

Thinking about it - you could do both.  The new Master Scout (or whatever you call him) becomes the next person in the Brotherhood of the Traveling Shirt.

Edited March 10, 2017 by CalicoPenn

[Stosh]

I hope it will fit all the boys who earn it or it would be a bit embarrassing. 

[SSScout]

Now here's where "one shirt fits all".   All First Class Scouts.   Seal in plastic?   Showcase it on the wall?  I'm thinking it is a neat idea for encouragement, but this shirt is, I think, going to have more wear and tear than an ordinary shirt.